What Are “Intramural Sports”?
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WHAT ARE “INTRAMURAL SPORTS”? The Intramural Sports Program at the University of South Florida is designed to provide an opportunity for all students, faculty, and staff to participate in organized recreational competition. Structured leagues and tournaments are offered in over 30 different sports and activities during the fall, spring, and summer semesters. So satisfy your urge to play, come by Campus Recreation and stop by the Intramural Office or contact Intramurals at 813-974-4449 or [email protected]. THE INTRAMURAL SPORTS STAFF The Intramural Sports Staff is here to serve you. We hope you will have a fun and safe intramural sports experience and we will do everything possible to achieve the goals of the University and the Campus Recreation Department. We encourage constructive comments and want to hear from you. If we can be of service, come by the Intramural Office or call us at 813-974-4449. One of our friendly staff members will be glad to be of assistance. INTRAMURAL GENERAL RULES • All participants are required to bring their USF student or USF staff ID card to ALL GAMES. The USF ID must have a clear name, UID number, and picture. No other form of identification will allow the participant to play in intramural sports. • Team roster sizes are capped at twice the amount it takes to field a full team with the exception of individual or dual activities unless otherwise noted. (Example: 7 on 7 flag football roster caps at 14 players/co-rec softball caps at 20 players). • In case of rain, lightning, or other threatening weather conditions, check the IM Sports Twitter account (@USFIMSports) and personal email for updates. Updates will be made once a decision is made. If there is no news posted, then games are on. The decision to start or postpone a game will be made by the Intramural Staff as the weather conditions dictate. This decision may or may not be made prior to game time. • No Pets - Pets are not to be brought on to any of the intramural fields, nor can pets be tied to a fence on the outside or held in a purse. • All spectators are to stay off the field/court at all times! • No jewelry may be worn in most Intramural Sports. Specific sport rules will clarify. Individuals will be removed from the contest until the jewelry is removed. • Athletic attire is required for most events. Specific sport rules will clarify. ELIGIBILITY All officially enrolled students at the University of South Florida are eligible. Faculty and Staff members must have an active membership to the Campus Recreation Center at the University of South Florida to be eligible for participation in the Intramural Sports Programs. Faculty and Staff can contact Membership Services at 813- 974-7084 for information on memberships. • Students representing fraternal societies in intramural competition must be members of their respective units or organizations. Active and legally processed pledges are eligible to participate in the Fraternal Society Division. • Each Fraternity/Sorority shall be required to keep an updated membership on file with the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life of all active members and pledges. This list shall also be kept up to date and new members or pledges added to this list prior to intramural participation. An individual is not eligible to participate for a fraternity/sorority unless his/her name appears on this membership list. Fraternities/Sororities not complying with this rule shall not be permitted to participate in intramural events in the Greek Leagues until their membership list is on file in the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life. • A player is allowed to participate on one Co-Rec team while also participating on one single gendered team (single gendered includes Fraternity, Sorority, Men's Independent, and Women's Independent). A person may not change teams after participating for a team. • The first team a player checks in with is considered his/her legal team. • A player may be removed from a roster if he/she is injured and cannot participate in intramurals anymore. To do this, the player must come into the IM office with the team captain and a doctor's note verifying the injury during office hours. The injured player will no longer be allowed to play Intramurals. • A player must provide a release form from the doctor to return from being medically removed from a roster. The player will have to play on the team they were removed from. If that team is already full, the player will not be allowed to play in that league for the rest of the season. • New fraternity/sorority pledges are eligible to switch to fraternity/sorority teams, with approval of the independent team captain in which the individual is leaving within the first four weeks of school. This applies only to team sports: flag football, volleyball, basketball, softball, and soccer. • Individuals on a team which forfeits the first game and is dropped are eligible to play on another team. The captain is not eligible to play on another team in that league. • Rosters of teams shall be comprised of team members’ names as they are listed on IMLeagues. Once a name appears on IMLeagues, they are to be considered members of that team. New players may be added throughout the regular season only as long as they have not previously played on another team. Players that have not participated may be removed from the roster. No new player can be added after the playoffs begin. • Varsity Intercollegiate Athletes: • USF Intramurals follows NIRSA eligibility guidelines regarding former intercollegiate varsity athletes. Varsity athletes that appear on an official intercollegiate squad list for more than 3 weeks are not eligible to compete in the same intramural sport for the same academic year, regardless of whether the name is removed after the fact. If a former varsity intercollegiate athlete appears on an official intercollegiate squad list for 4 or more years, they are not eligible to compete in intramural sports for that respective sport until one full academic year has lapsed from the final academic year they were listed on a school’s varsity squad list. Please visit http://nirsa.net/nirsa/nirsa-championship-series/player-eligibility- requirements/ for more details. • In the case of an intramural sport that precedes or coincides with a varsity sport, a squad member may participate in both until such time as the official squad list is published. • Professional Athletes: • A professional athlete is barred from the sport in which he/she was a professional for a period of five years from the time he/she last played as a professional. A professional athlete is one who receives any kind of payment, directly or indirectly, for athletic participation, or who has participated in competition with a professional team. A professional athletics team is any organized team that provides any of its players more than actual and necessary expenses for participation on the team and/or declares itself to be professional. USF Intramurals expects participation to be based on one’s self-identified gender and that it is done in good faith and is consistent with a player’s expressed gender identity. • A participant’s gender identity will be applied when there are gender specific rules or player ratio requirements for co-rec divisions. • Transgender individuals may play on the team that best matches their gender identity, not purely on the sex indicated in official school records. • Player eligibility will be based on the gender identified on the official team roster. INELIGIBLE PLAYERS The Intramural Staff does not assume the responsibility for checking upon all aspects of the eligibility of individuals participating, but any cases of ineligibility called to the staff’s attention will be dealt with according to the policies. Team captains will be responsible to check the eligibility of their own players and should check that of their opponents. • Types of ineligible players: • Non Student, Non Faculty/Staff, or Faculty/Staff without membership • Participant playing on two or more single gendered or Co-Rec teams • Current Intercollegiate Athletes • Ejected Participants • The Intramural Staff will forfeit any contest immediately upon discovery of an ineligible participant(s). • Teams may not play ineligible players even by mutual agreement of both team captains and the other players in the contest. • During league play, all contests in which an ineligible player participates shall be recorded as a forfeit win for the opposing team and the ineligible player will be suspended for the remainder of that specific sport. • During playoffs, the contest in which the ineligible player was legally protested upon and discovered in shall be recorded as a forfeit win for the opposing team. REGISTRATION AND CAPTAIN'S MEETINGS All registrations and captain’s meetings take place on IMLeagues.com/USF unless otherwise indicated by the events description on IMLeagues. The team captain must have an active IMLeagues account to register a team. • Major Sports – Major sports will have a window of registration a week prior to games. • Minor Sports/Special Events – All minor sports and special events are open for registration the first day of classes per semester and close 2-4 days before the actual event takes place or begins. Please be aware of all registration deadlines. There are no captain’s meetings for Minor Sports or Special Events. • Team names are subject to the approval of the Intramural Professional Staff. Any names deemed inappropriate will not be permitted to be used in any fashion. Although a team name may be accepted at time of entry, after review it may be deemed inappropriate and changed. Teams may not use names to discourage opponents from showing up such as Bye Week, No Game, Open, etc.